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"My approach to intervention is rooted in respect for child development and focuses on making the mundane meaningful, looking at daily interactions as opportunities for learning and growth while respecting the uniqueness of the individual and family. It’s about setting high expectations for long term quality of life and relationships for individuals on the spectrum and implementing a specific and doable plan to get there one step at a time.” – Lauren Wilson, LCSW, RDI® Program Certified Consultant

Friday, September 30, 2011

Notice how emotion is tied in with the description of this memory, and the usefulness of how this young boy has embedded the memory. The next time he is faced with a challenge, you can bet this memory will be used to remind him of his prior successes.

There has been a wonderful four part blog on Episodic Memory from a fellow RDI Consultant. Episodic Memory and Children with ASD. She does a beautiful job of breaking down a rather complex concept into easily understandable and transferable ideas. These make for great sharing with friends, family and school team members.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

Another favorite. If we spend out days looking for the elusive peace or perfection we will run ourselves ragged. The truth of the matter is that we can always find it, because in the midst of all the nuttiness that sometimes can take over a day there is our ability to embrace it for what it is and say "aaahhh" and when needed, remind ourselves that "this too shall pass."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

"Children who have autism and their healthy siblings share patterns of brain activity that are different than those seen in children with no family history of the disorder, according to unpublished research presented Thursday at the IMFAR 2010 conference in Philadelphia."

"The discovery of distinctive brain activity patterns for individuals with ASDs and their siblings has great potential to advance autism research and clinical practice. By looking at the functioning of socially- activated regions of the brain, we may be able to tell who does and does not have ASD. We may also be able to tell who seems fine but carries (and perhaps overcame) genetic risk for ASD. There may come a time when a diagnosis of ASD -- and even a measure of its severity -- is based not just on observation of external behavior but on this "neural signature." In addition, new treatments focused on social deficits may intentionally target activation of crucial brain regions, while the effectiveness of older treatments might be measured by how activation of the social brain changes over time."

It has certainly been my experience that as children on the spectrum are given the opportunity to make those important neural connections make true progress in remediation.

A doctoral candidate on the Big Island is looking for research participants.

Here is a bit about the study:

Research Purpose

Understanding the effects of advocacy training on the perceived self-efficacy and parental stress in parents of children diagnosed with autism could provide compelling evidence that parents need advocacy training to protect their mental health. Healthy parents promote a healthy family system that benefits all children. Such a link may also provide evidence for the need to make advocacy training more accessible for parents who are new to caring for their child diagnosed with autism. This study was expected to provide valuable information for parents of children diagnosed with autism as well as those involved in providing assistance and training for these parents. If the study found a decrease in parental stress and an increase in perceived self-efficacy in parents of children diagnosed with autism who participated in Wrightslaw Advocacy Training (WLAT), it could measure the benefits of such advocacy training programs.

Perceived self-efficacy is the belief in one’s personal abilities to complete a task. It is more concerned with the judgment of how well one can perform rather than how well one actually performs.